A few other February pics

Here are a few random pics from February.

 Lena found some pantyliners and thought they'd make good inserts for her Stompees.

 The major theme throughout February was SNOW.  We had three major snow events in the first month we were in Wisconsin.  One was 8 inches, one 12 inches, and one 13 inches.  Crazy!

 The bookmobile comes to our school every week, so Lena got her very first library card!  

 She's very excited to use it.

 Daddy Eva snuggles.

 This is what happens when you let the two-year-old dress herself.

 We had been planning to move the girls to bunk beds after Christmas, but then when we found out we were moving, we decided to do it then.  So the best part of getting settled into our new house for the girls was getting to sleep in their bunk beds for the first time.  They were so excited!  They got all new My Little Pony bedding for Christmas and have been waiting oh-so-patiently to use it.  They love their bunk beds.

 Where's the best place to take a nap after a busy day of unpacking?  Why, under the kitchen table, of course!  What a goof!

Valentine's Day

The girls and I had a fun Valentine's Day.  They've been through so much in the last few weeks and did so great with the move, that I decided that they deserved a fun day. Valentine's Day was a good excuse for it.  We had a whole day of heart-shaped food.  Here are some pics.

 Breakfast: Heart-shaped toast with strawberry jam and heart-shaped hard boiled eggs.  

This gives you a rough idea of how I did the eggs.  Hard boil them, and then while they are still hot, place them in a v-shaped piece of heavy cardboard-like paper and smoosh a straw on top.  Fasten with rubberbands and refrigerate.  Mine didn't turn out perfectly.  Some of them were just vaguely triangle-shaped and one busted open, but it was a fun experiment.

 They loved it.

 Time for presents! (Please notice they are both wearing shirts with hearts all over them!)

 Kitty plate and matching bowl for Lena.

 Bumblebees for Eva. They also got stationary sets and toast stamps.

 All ready to help Mama bake some fun Valentine's Day cookies!

 Cracking the eggs.

Stirring the batter.

 Strawberry cookies with plenty of dark chocolate chips. Yum!  Super easy to make too. They used a strawberry cake mix. Here's the recipe.

 One of my official taste-testers.

 Good, but messy!

 Lunch was heart-shaped pizzas made with some flatbread.

 I tried to make Lena's sauce pink by mixing pizza sauce with alfredo sauce, but it came out orange instead.

 Cupid hearts made out of grape tomatoes.

 Fun Valentine lunch.

 Yum!

 Dinner was heart-shaped mini meatloaves, pink mashed potatoes, and heart-shaped carrots.

Finished the day with strawberry Rice Krispy treats with raspberry M&M's inside.

Lena's First Day at CLA

 February 13 was Lena's first day at her new school, Christ Lutheran Academy.  She was really excited.  That just happened to be the day for exchanging Valentine's Day cards at school, so we found some My Little Pony cards for her to give out.

 Writing out her cards.  I wrote the "to" section and she wrote her name under "from".

 This is her dress uniform, which she wears on Wednesdays.  The tights were supposed to be navy, but I couldn't find her navy tights amidst the chaos from moving.  The students wear these dress uniforms on Wednesdays, and on other days their uniform consists of navy blue pants (or skirt) and either a red or green polo shirt.

 She had to wear hearts in her hair in honor of the holiday.

 How nice that she gets to walk to school with Daddy.

She absolutely loves her new school.  She's already making friends like crazy.

Jim's Installation at Messiah

On Sunday, February 10, 2013, Jim was installed as the seventh pastor of Messiah Lutheran Church.  The ceremony was really nice.  The church was packed.  There were three different choirs, the brass was beautiful; it was lovely.  And there was a delicious meal held afterwards.  

(Thanks to Bob Hagerman for the photos.)

Tammy, Amy, Brian, and Brian's friend were here for it.  Aunt Amy brought Lena's birthday present, since she wouldn't be here for her actual birthday.  Here are a few pics of that.

 Lena was dressed in her school uniform because the school was holding an open house the same day as the installation and the students were required to be there.

 It was an Easy Bake Oven with some cake and pretzel mixes.

 The next morning, Grammy Tammy and Aunt Amy helped Lena use her Easy Bake Oven for the first time.

 Making cupcakes.

 Eva got to help too, of course.

 We had a little lesson on not licking your finger and sticking it right back into the batter.

 Into the oven it goes.

 All done!

 

 Time for frosting.  The frosting was a little on the runny side because "someone" confused teaspoons for tablespoons when mixing in the water.  But we added some powdered sugar so it was still usable.

 Sprinkles made them complete!

 The proud baker with her creations.

 Time for a taste test.

 Yummy!